1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to payout methods in a mechanical, an electromechanical and/or standard computer-based slot machine-like games-of-chance and, more particularly, to a method, an apparatus, and a computer readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for providing awards based upon matching two- or more symbols drawn from the symbol matrix during one or more spins (“Pair'em Up”), as described below in detail.
2. Background Description
To play a slot machine a player deposits money in the form of coins, gaming tokens or paper currency either into a coin head or bill acceptor (“the coin-in”). The coins and gaming tokens are collected in a reservoir inside the gaming machine (“the hopper”) while the paper currency is collected in the bill acceptor inside the gaming machine. If the coins, gaming tokens or paper currency are validated as authentic, the player accrues the appropriate number of playing units (“credits”) on a credit meter on the gaming machine depending on the denomination of the wager as set on the gaming machine. For example, a twenty-five cent gaming machine will accrue four credits for each dollar deposited into the gaming machine by way of the coin head or the bill acceptor.
After accruing credits on the credit meter, the player determines how many credits he wishes to wager on the next spin of the slot reels (“total bet”) and then spins the reels by pressing the spin button or by pulling a handle. When the reels stop spinning, symbols are displayed on the slot reels (“symbol matrix”). The player then collects credits for predetermined symbol combinations (“winning combinations”), if any, according to a pre-determined schedule (“pay table”). More specifically, the standard slot machine operates as follows:                Symbol Matrix. Slot symbols are displayed on 3 or more slot reels (also called “columns”) placed adjacent to each other. Each column contains at least 3 rows, with a symbol in each row. The resulting matrix of symbols (“symbol matrix”) ranges from 3 columns by 3 rows with 9 total symbols to 5 columns by 3 rows with 15 total symbols. Within the symbol matrix, positions on the slot reels may be referred to according to column, from left to right, and row, from the top to bottom (“symbol positions”). For example: symbol position 1/2 is located in column 1 (i.e., left-most column) and row 2 (i.e., middle row).        Winning Combinations. Players collect credits for predetermined winning symbol combinations that appear in specific locations (“pay lines”) on the slot reels. Winning combinations typically require that three or more of the same symbols appear adjacent to each other starting from the leftmost position of a pay line (“line pays”). For example: a player may collect a line pay if 3 Banana symbols appeared in symbol positions 1/1, 2/1, 3/1 on a pay line using symbol positions 1/1, 2/1, 3/1, 4/1, and 5/1.         Alternatively, players may also collect credits for predetermined winning combinations that appear anywhere on a pay line (“line scatter pays”) or anywhere on the slot reels (“reel scatter pays”). For example, a player may collect a line scatter pay if 3 Banana symbols appeared in symbol positions 1/1, 3/1, 5/1 on a pay line using symbol positions 1/1, 2/1, 3/1, 4/1, and 5/1; and collect a reel scatter pay if 3 Banana symbols appeared anywhere on the slot reels.        Pay Table. Credits are awarded to the player for each winning symbol combination based on a predetermined schedule (“pay table”). For line pays and line scatter pays, the number of credits wagered on the winning pay line multiplies the number of credits indicated by the pay table. For example, a player may wager two credits each on five pay lines, spin the reels, and collect twice the amount indicated on the pay table for a line pay or line scatter pay appearing on any of the five played pay lines. For reel scatter pays, the total number of credits wagered multiplies the number of credits indicated by the pay table. For example, a player may wager ten total credits, spin the reels, and collect twice the amount indicated on the pay table for a reel scatter pay appearing on anywhere on the slot reels.        
Following any type of pay (e.g., line pays, line scatter pays and reel scatter pays), the credits won are added to the player's balance of credits shown in the credit meter. As long as the player has credits on the credit meter, the player may continue to play the gaming machine. In addition, the player may also: collect the remaining balance of credits by pressing a Cash Out button the gaming machine; view the rules of the game by pressing the Help button before any spin; and/or view the game's pay table by pressing the Pays button before any spin.
Conventional slot machines only issues awards for the types of winning combinations described above. As a result of this limitation:                Players suffer from the boredom of playing “new” games with different graphics that really use the same “old” awards;        Casinos suffer from the players' dissatisfaction with the casino's game selection as they cannot distinguish their game offerings from other casinos; and        Game manufacturers suffer declining orders as they cannot distinguish their product line from the other manufacturers.        